Boston College, Hammond Street House Faculty Offices

Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

FIRM

CLIENT

Boston College

AREA

15,600 sq.ft.

TOTAL COST

$3,000,000.00

COMPLETION DATE

7/2000

Over the years, Boston College has expanded its campus into an area of large-scale residential homes. Today, the Hovey Triangle, situated in the Chestnut Hill historic district and named for an original resident of the area, is home to about 11 Boston College buildings.

In order to ease a significant shortage of faculty offices, the college proposed to build a new ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONCOST PER SQ FT$192.00FEATURED IN2002 Architectural Portfolio on the Hovey property that would be consistent with the neighborhood and fulfill the need for additional office space. Knowing the sensitivity of the neighborhood meant that careful consideration to the historical context was vital.

The final program called for maximizing the faculty office count in a building of about 15,000 square feet. Since basement square footage was not counted in the zoning calculations, taking advantage of the sloping site for natural light to this area would improve usage of this level. Creating attic space allowed for open planning of workstations. Finally, while the building faced Hammond Street, the rear of the building most likely would be used as the main entrance because pedestrians from the main campus approached from this direction.

Final construction was compatible with the neighborhood. It included brick, painted trim and a slate shingle roof, along with complementary building scale and detail.